Florida Bill Could Outlaw Smoking in the Car When Kids Are Present
Photo: Michael Dougherty
This may seem like common sense to many folks, but modern medicine strongly frowns upon the effects of secondhand cigarette smoke, especially when it comes to kids and their developing lungs. Well, the state legislature in Florida is about to turn common sense into common law. Florida Senate Bill 548 would make smoking in a motor vehicle when a child under 13 is also in the vehicle illegal if it passes.
Offenders would be ticketed with a non-moving violation if an officer spots them smoking in the car when children are present.
It seems fair that children shouldn’t be exposed to secondhand smoke when they are not legally of the age to choose to smoke, and any responsible parent would, in the interest of their child’s health, refrain from smoking around them. That’s why much of the fuss about this bill in Florida is simply over the fact that it should even be a law and not a fight for or against it. Many think that it’s an example of the government intruding a little too far into their personal lives.
Similar laws have been passed in Vermont, Arkansas, Maine, California, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Utah, and Oregon. Hopefully, should the bill become law, negligent parents in Florida will become discouraged from exposing their children to their harmful habits while they’re stuck in the car together.
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